Man behind EU's expansion turns on new members

The man responsible for the European Union's biggest expansion criticised the new entrants yesterday, suggesting that their years of dictatorship now threatened the organisation's stability.

Gunter Verheugen, the EU enlargement commissioner, singled out Poland, by far the biggest newcomer, as a prime example of the dangers.

"There is a problem with a hidden instability in Poland's political system," he told the Suddeutsche Zeitung. "It spans a great distance, from the national-Catholic camp to the chauvinistic and pure populistic camp."

The newcomers, mostly from the former Warsaw Pact, lacked a tradition of party systems reflecting the make-up of society, Mr Verheugen said, so voters were far more likely to float, creating more volatile politics.

He expressed his regret that the Solidarity movement, which led to the fall of communism, had not moulded a new political structure, opening the way for the rise of extremist parties.

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He also expressed the concerns of many opponents of the EU's imminent expansion from 15 to 25 members by saying its sheer size and diversity might in future lead to political instability and a freeze in decision-making.

He said it might be hard to keep all countries, especially young democracies, in line at all times.

"In an ever-growing union one has to expect there always being at a particular time one partner who acts unpredictably or whose own back yard is in a mess."

As a result the EU needed a decision-making mechanism which would allow such unpredictable behaviour to be kept to a minimum after the union enlarges on May 1.

Governments in eastern Europe tend to have short lifespans. In Hungary the average duration since the collapse of communism in 1989 has been 25 months; in the Czech Republic 22 months; and in Latvia, whose centre-Right government collapsed recently, 11 months.

But Mr Verheugen, who is German, said he was greatly concerned about the increasing fear Poles felt towards their German neighbours, as well as the German tendency to suggest Poles should be grateful for being allowed to join the EU.

"From an economic viewpoint enlargement is in Germany's favour, and the argument that Poland is getting our money and should be grateful is absolutely uncalled for," he said.